As we approach 2025, marketing leaders are preparing for significant shifts in consumer behavior and the marketing landscape. Personalization has become a must-have, with consumers expecting tailored experiences at every interaction. Casey Gannon, VP of Marketing and Technology Partnerships at a leading firm, stated, “Personalization has transformed from a nice-to-have into a must-have in marketing strategies over the past few years.
Consumers now expect tailored experiences at every interaction, and their attention spans are shrinking for anything less.”
AI is seen as the fastest and most cost-effective solution to meet these evolving demands. Gannon explained, “We’re just beginning to unlock the potential of data-driven insights from AI. While many brands have started with task automation, we’ll see a shift toward more sophisticated machine-learning applications in 2025 and beyond.”
However, marketers will need to balance AI efficiency with thoughtful, human-generated content.
2025 shifts in marketing priorities
Katherine Lee, Head of Marketing, USA at a prominent company, commented, “Even though generative AI can create things like social media captions, email copy, and blog content in seconds, it often misses the mark on brand sentiment, tone of voice, and unique perspectives that set companies apart from their competitors.”
As technology becomes more prevalent, consumers will crave genuine human experiences. Gretel Going, President at another major company, noted, “Both consumer and business audiences have already become comfortable with things like being more efficiently targeted online.
But on some fundamental level, they do sense the contrast between the eerily perfect, yet unfeeling, content, stories, and conversations generated by technology—and the imperfect, yet soulful, versions of the same that are created by real people.”
Marketers will also look to AI to solve the problems that actually plague customers. Jason Grunberg, CMO at a top firm, explained, “In the coming year, we’ll see more marketers use AI for use cases beyond driving efficiencies and automating content to solve larger problems plaguing their customers. And when marketers can identify where their customers’ problems intersect with company challenges—and solve for them both with AI—they’ll drive business growth in the process.”
Lastly, data will be at the center of everything marketers do.
Holly Fee, VP of Marketing at another significant firm, asserted, “In 2025, we’ll see more companies invest in breaking down data silos, creating data-driven cultures, and, ultimately, preparing their data for AI tools. This will empower marketers to holistically look at data, quickly analyze performance and trends, and make data integral to their everyday work and business decisions.”
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, marketers will need to focus on the fundamentals, leverage AI strategically, balance technology with human creativity, solve customer problems with AI, and center data in their efforts to drive growth and innovation in 2025 and beyond.
